Response

She heard no response from him for several days. Fears plagued her that she had scared him off with her last letter, but deep down she knew that was wrong. Something else was going on.

One morning, as she was walking toward the library, she saw a shadow at the closed library doors. It moved, and a white envelope was attached to the door. She ducked back into a niche, hiding from their eyes, and watching as the figure passed by. With a breeze of herbs and musk, Severus Snape passed by her niche, his cloak gliding in the air. She smiled to herself, knowing that she had been right; she was positive he had been leaving a letter for her on the door.

When Hermione was positive he was gone, she snuck out of the niche, making her way quietly down the hall. She made it to the door, and sure enough, there was a plain bit of parchment with familiar handwriting etched into the soft skin in the form of her name. She gave a glance around to make sure that no one was there before pulling it off the door and quickly unlocking the door. She made her way inside, shutting the door behind her. Sitting down in the chair, she released the breath she had unconsciously been holding.

She opened the letter, the familiar heavy parchment caressing her skin. The scent of herbs and Severus wafted to her nose, and she smiled. She finally knew. It was him, and she was elated.

6/12/09

Severus Snape

She didn't really know what to say or even do after reading that letter he had left her. He was such an enigma. Severus Snape. There were so many things she didn't know about him, and she had been writing letters with him for the past several months; that's saying something. Even in the Voldemort-free world, he was still a dark, brooding mystery. She didn't think she would ever really understand him. There were just so many layers to him. Every time she discovered one and pulled it back to learn about him, she found another.

For the rest of the day she simply sat behind her desk, staring into nothingness, pondering what this shift in their relationship meant. After all, now she knew for sure that it was him. No more guess work. No more assumptions. She could talk to him about everything they had written in their letters. It was freeing and yet terrifying. Now there was nothing standing in between them. Her question was whether he would be as open in real life as he had been in his letters. She didn't want to be friends with the brooding bat of the dungeons, she wanted the warm, sarcastic friend from their letters. She dreaded the first moment seeing him after reading the letter for this reason. She did not know if he was going to shun her or truly be her friend.

A loud clang echoed through the halls, and her head snapped up when she looked at the clock on the wall. It was almost time for dinner. She had spent the whole day sitting there staring at a shelf of books. The library was empty; all the students were at dinner already. She stood up and made her way slowly to the Great Hall. The impending interaction was hanging over her head.

She went in through the teachers’ entrance and took her seat between him and Minerva. Minerva was oddly quiet. Hermione stared at the plate of food in front of her. She picked up the fork in her hand and pushed the food around on the plate.

"I do believe you are supposed to eat that, not push it around like a tugboat." His soft voice caressed her ear, and she looked over at him, his piercing black eyes burning a hole right through her. A slow smile spread across her face and a smaller one mirrored on his face. It quickly disappeared, but she understood why: he had to keep up appearances for the students. They couldn't know the greasy git had a heart much less a sense of humor.

"I do believe you are right," she whispered back as she piled mashed potatoes and peas onto her fork and placed it into her mouth, slowly pulling the fork off, clean of any remnants of food. A weird sound filled her ears and she looked toward the source. Severus was sitting in his chair, looking out over the hall, a strained look on his face.

"Are you okay?" she asked delicately. He nodded and continued to stare forward. She gave a shrug and continued to eat her food.

"How was your day, Severus?" she asked, attempting small talk.

"It was filled with the normal dunderheaded behavior. Thankfully, no one was severely harmed. Pardon the pun."

"Pun pardoned. Yes, that would indeed make a horrible day."

"How was your day in the library? Learn anything surprising?"

"Nothing that I didn't already know or think I knew." She glanced at him slyly out of the corner of her eye. He gave a jerk of his head, and she knew he understood what she meant. They fell into a comfortable silence that was only interrupted by the soft chewing and whispers that filled the hall.

After she was finished, she left the hall and slowly made her way back to the library. The familiar stomp of booted feet filled her ears, and she turned around to see Severus walking towards her.

"So you are fine with it?"

"Yes," she said with a nod and smile. "Completely fine with it."

“Good.”